4 ms·

My career has basically gone this way: 60k shitty entry level job (< 3 years)... quit for a 90k slightly less shitty job (1 year) ... quit for a 140k + $350k

My career has basically gone this way: 60k shitty entry level job (< 3 years)... quit for a 90k slightly less shitty job (1 year) ... quit for a 140k + $350k bonus/equity (< 2 years) ... quit for a 160k + much more equity, nearly certain IPO (hopefully for the full 4 years to vest 100%) Don't hate the mercenary, hate the employer who won't pay you what you are worth!

Chinjut 11y ago
That was some jump from $90k to $490k! (How'd you pull that off?)
rev_bird 11y ago
Echoing Chinjut's question – I've never seen a jump like that, unless it was equity that turned out to be worth $350k, but looked like less when it was offered. How did that happen?!
- meatysnapper 11y ago
  Mostly equity; I joined a company the week of the IPO but accepted the offer before that. I basically got very lucky, but the base salary + equity any relatively big name post-IPO company would also be $200k-ish. Keep in mind that I stayed at none of these companies for more than 2.5 years! There were 2 brief interludes 1) Non-technical grad school, but that actually netted me a very slick summer internship one year that paid way better than my previous job too. 2) Failed startup, that paid nothing Unfortunately, I think I've maxed out on the software engineer pay scale now unless I get even luckier.
  - ranit 11y ago
    Maxing out is not considered "unfortunate" by most definitions of luckiness. :-)
    - s73v3r 11y ago
      Depends. If he gets bored/unhappy at his current positing, then his options for leaving might be narrowed.
      - rev_bird 11y ago
        At that point, it seems like it just comes down to how much you're willing to pay to be happy. If your lifestyle inflates to the point that you can't take a pay cut, then yeah, that's a shitty situation, but I know of some folks who would gladly trade $50,000 for a little more free time, and in the next year or so likely will.
  - hexedpackets 11y ago
    Those are awesome and I'm sure well-deserved jumps. However, you definitely have not maxed out on the pay scale, especially if you're in SF/NYC. To quote patio11: > Pick a number, any number: somebody does a lot better than that. For most numbers you’d naively think of, its an awful lot of somebodies. $100k? Not the top. $250k? Not the top. $500k? … Not the top. http://www.kalzumeus.com/2015/05/01/talking-about-money/ http://www.kalzumeus.com/2015/05/01/talking-about-money/
  - rev_bird 11y ago
    Thanks for the response. I'm not a developer (yet... heh), but I think I'm probably within sniffing distance of the top of the pay scale for my particular role. It's a weird feeling to know, "Welp, this is the end of big raises," but at the same time, I'm incredibly relieved by the thought that I could go my whole life without another pay bump, even for cost of living, and still be totally fine. I wouldn't want that, sure, but so long as I don't get myself fired I'll have everything I need. What a ridiculously lucky deal we've found. The less emotional benefit of getting higher in the pay scale is that job-switches can be about something more meaningful than just, "Oh shit, that's more money!" Now, so long as I can get close, I'll be happy to just go wherever would be most fulfilling.
ljk 11y ago
that's impressive! what's the shortest time you've spent at a company?
ceras 11y ago
I'm surprised you found a near-certain pre-IPO company who gave you a lot more equity than $350k. Most options I've seen at that stage seem to consistently not even reach 0.1%, which is already much less than $350k for your typical IPO.
- meatysnapper 11y ago
  To quote Zaphod Beeblebrox, "I got lucky". These companies can be found, and you probably know their names. You can get through their interviews by adopting the mannerisms of their interviewers (be it old cynical guys, or Stanford new grads, or whatever) and studying your SAT interview question book. The way to really strike it rich is look for say a social network with 30+ million active users that is willing to give you options. It's hard to fuck up 30+ million users. EDIT: Just because I got lucky does not mean the OPs post is wrong. My luck was aided by me jumping ship as frequently as I could whenever a good new opportunity presented itself.
trowawayyy 11y ago
Hey! Great job. That's awesome. My trajectories been 25k 6months, 45k 6m, 75k 1yr, 110k now. Hoping to get to 150k in one more year. 150+ would be a sweet salary!! (Throwaway)
crpatino 11y ago
> Don't hate the mercenary, hate the employer who won't pay you what you are worth! I think you fail to see a fact, the same fact that was overlooked by all your former bosses actually. Your 6-years-ago self was probably not worth half of what your current self is. Your ability to land each new job was built upon the foundations of higher skills and professional maturity you achieved on the previous job. Ambitious, talented employees keep growing, positions are static by nature. Job hopping is the de-facto career path.
- meatysnapper 11y ago
  I am definitely worth more now; I agree. Unfortunately: 1) Management in all but one job I've had invested nothing in training and helping new employees grow. My technical growth has come through personal projects and taking on extra work. 2) Promotion never offered anything like the salary increases a new job offered. The incentive to stay is not there.
- PirateDave 11y ago
  Is 160k common in SV for 6 years experience? I'm in the L.A. area and people want to crap their pants when I tell them to give me 150k.
- lmm 11y ago
  > Your 6-years-ago self was probably not worth half of what your current self is. Your ability to land each new job was built upon the foundations of higher skills and professional maturity you achieved on the previous job. I think employers massively overweight experience, particularly in a field that changes as fast as ours. Five years ago I was just as smart as I am now, maybe smarter - I didn't have 5 years' experience with tools X, Y and Z, but tools X and Y are already basically obsolete. But the market says I'm worth twice as much now as I was five years ago.
  - s73v3r 11y ago
    But you also have five years more experience in designing software, organizing code, debugging, etc. All things that are largely tool agnostic.

Chinjut 11y ago

That was some jump from $90k to $490k! (How'd you pull that off?)

rev_bird 11y ago

Echoing Chinjut's question – I've never seen a jump like that, unless it was equity that turned out to be worth $350k, but looked like less when it was offered. How did that happen?!

meatysnapper 11y ago
Mostly equity; I joined a company the week of the IPO but accepted the offer before that. I basically got very lucky, but the base salary + equity any relatively big name post-IPO company would also be $200k-ish. Keep in mind that I stayed at none of these companies for more than 2.5 years! There were 2 brief interludes 1) Non-technical grad school, but that actually netted me a very slick summer internship one year that paid way better than my previous job too. 2) Failed startup, that paid nothing Unfortunately, I think I've maxed out on the software engineer pay scale now unless I get even luckier.
- ranit 11y ago
  Maxing out is not considered "unfortunate" by most definitions of luckiness. :-)
  - s73v3r 11y ago
    Depends. If he gets bored/unhappy at his current positing, then his options for leaving might be narrowed.
    - rev_bird 11y ago
      At that point, it seems like it just comes down to how much you're willing to pay to be happy. If your lifestyle inflates to the point that you can't take a pay cut, then yeah, that's a shitty situation, but I know of some folks who would gladly trade $50,000 for a little more free time, and in the next year or so likely will.
- hexedpackets 11y ago
  Those are awesome and I'm sure well-deserved jumps. However, you definitely have not maxed out on the pay scale, especially if you're in SF/NYC. To quote patio11: > Pick a number, any number: somebody does a lot better than that. For most numbers you’d naively think of, its an awful lot of somebodies. $100k? Not the top. $250k? Not the top. $500k? … Not the top. http://www.kalzumeus.com/2015/05/01/talking-about-money/ http://www.kalzumeus.com/2015/05/01/talking-about-money/
- rev_bird 11y ago
  Thanks for the response. I'm not a developer (yet... heh), but I think I'm probably within sniffing distance of the top of the pay scale for my particular role. It's a weird feeling to know, "Welp, this is the end of big raises," but at the same time, I'm incredibly relieved by the thought that I could go my whole life without another pay bump, even for cost of living, and still be totally fine. I wouldn't want that, sure, but so long as I don't get myself fired I'll have everything I need. What a ridiculously lucky deal we've found. The less emotional benefit of getting higher in the pay scale is that job-switches can be about something more meaningful than just, "Oh shit, that's more money!" Now, so long as I can get close, I'll be happy to just go wherever would be most fulfilling.

ljk 11y ago

that's impressive! what's the shortest time you've spent at a company?

ceras 11y ago

I'm surprised you found a near-certain pre-IPO company who gave you a lot more equity than $350k. Most options I've seen at that stage seem to consistently not even reach 0.1%, which is already much less than $350k for your typical IPO.

meatysnapper 11y ago
To quote Zaphod Beeblebrox, "I got lucky". These companies can be found, and you probably know their names. You can get through their interviews by adopting the mannerisms of their interviewers (be it old cynical guys, or Stanford new grads, or whatever) and studying your SAT interview question book. The way to really strike it rich is look for say a social network with 30+ million active users that is willing to give you options. It's hard to fuck up 30+ million users. EDIT: Just because I got lucky does not mean the OPs post is wrong. My luck was aided by me jumping ship as frequently as I could whenever a good new opportunity presented itself.

trowawayyy 11y ago

Hey! Great job. That's awesome. My trajectories been 25k 6months, 45k 6m, 75k 1yr, 110k now. Hoping to get to 150k in one more year. 150+ would be a sweet salary!! (Throwaway)

crpatino 11y ago

> Don't hate the mercenary, hate the employer who won't pay you what you are worth! I think you fail to see a fact, the same fact that was overlooked by all your former bosses actually. Your 6-years-ago self was probably not worth half of what your current self is. Your ability to land each new job was built upon the foundations of higher skills and professional maturity you achieved on the previous job. Ambitious, talented employees keep growing, positions are static by nature. Job hopping is the de-facto career path.

meatysnapper 11y ago
I am definitely worth more now; I agree. Unfortunately: 1) Management in all but one job I've had invested nothing in training and helping new employees grow. My technical growth has come through personal projects and taking on extra work. 2) Promotion never offered anything like the salary increases a new job offered. The incentive to stay is not there.
PirateDave 11y ago
Is 160k common in SV for 6 years experience? I'm in the L.A. area and people want to crap their pants when I tell them to give me 150k.
lmm 11y ago
> Your 6-years-ago self was probably not worth half of what your current self is. Your ability to land each new job was built upon the foundations of higher skills and professional maturity you achieved on the previous job. I think employers massively overweight experience, particularly in a field that changes as fast as ours. Five years ago I was just as smart as I am now, maybe smarter - I didn't have 5 years' experience with tools X, Y and Z, but tools X and Y are already basically obsolete. But the market says I'm worth twice as much now as I was five years ago.
- s73v3r 11y ago
  But you also have five years more experience in designing software, organizing code, debugging, etc. All things that are largely tool agnostic.